PrintTucker’s departure has been brewing a long time. So has his next move.
Both Tucker Carlson and Fox News remain mum on the departure of Fox News’s most popular host beyond the terse initial announcement. While I have little doubt that Tucker was fired because he promised to see viewers on Monday during what ended up as his final broadcast last Friday, there have been intriguing signs that he was chafing under the Fox News yoke and may even welcome the circumstances of his departure.
Harriet Alexander of the UK Daily Mail cites several examples of tension with Fox management starting with coverage on the 2020 election:
Tucker Carlson was ousted by Fox News in part because executives were angry at his bitter criticism of them following the 2020 election, according to The Wall Street Journal - which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Carlson, who joined Fox in 2009 after stints at CNN, PBS and MSNBC, was not told why he was being dismissed when CEO Suzanne Scott called him on Monday morning.
Scott told him the decision was made 'from above.' The decision was made on Friday night by Lachlan Murdoch, according to the WSJ.
The paper said that executives were angry at the 'disparaging and derogatory remarks' he made about colleagues, including a plea to get White House reporter Jacqui Heinrich fired for fact-checking Donald Trump, and calling his bosses 'incompetent liberals' and 'f******'. (snip)Those made public include Carlson telling a colleague the day after the election was called for Joe Biden: 'Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we've lost with our audience?'
In another, he said: 'Those f****** are destroying our credibility.'
He later wrote: 'A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what's happening.'
Carlson vented his fury to his producer Justin Wells - who was also fired on Monday.
'We're playing with fire, for real … an alternative like Newsmax could be devastating to us,' he said.
Why did the firing suddenly happen Monday, after the show’s staff reportedly had started preparing Monday’s show? According to the UKDM:
[Fox News President Suzanne] Scott told him the decision was made 'from above.' The decision was made on Friday night by Lachlan Murdoch, according to the WSJ.
Presumably, Lachlan discussed his decision with his father over the weekend.
Sundance makes the point that point that the cost of the move was better booked now than later:
Paying $60 to $100 million to get rid of Carlson’s antagonistic voice is small money to Murdoch Inc. in the grand scheme of things.
The basis for this estimate must be what the Wall Street Journal reported:
Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said.
Sundance makes the good point that:
Fox Corp is going to take a big hit in second quarter (Q2) earnings as part of the Dominion settlement. If you are going to take a big financial hit, it’s better to go ahead and clear the decks of all financial hits at the same time.
It is unclear how much, if any, of the settlement money will come from insurance.
Tucker’s increasing willingness to use a good versus evil framework to discuss the political contest today has been evident for some time now. As far back as mid-2021, he agreed with his frequent guest Jason Whitlock that a lot of what the left wants is “satanic.”
Paying $60 to $100 million to get rid of Carlson’s antagonistic voice is small money to Murdoch Inc. in the grand scheme of things.
The basis for this estimate of the check Fox is cutting to Tucker must be what the Wall Street Journal reported:
Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said.
Sundance makes the good point that:
Fox Corp is going to take a big hit in second quarter (Q2) earnings as part of the Dominion settlement. If you are going to take a big financial hit, it’s better to go ahead and clear the decks of all financial hits at the same time.
So, with an 8-figure severance payment from Fox on top of a personal fortune that was already substantial, Tucker Carlson has the resources to launch a platform of his own, free to frame issues as he sees them. Even though he earlier speculated that Newsmax has a huge opportunity as Fox moves left, I suspect streaming will be his chosen vehicle. Sundance:
Digital is where the action is. Digital subscriber services is where the future of all content is focused. Understanding this reality gives you a scale of the darkness in the opposition elements facing our nation. Fox News digital is Fox Nation. Tucker Carlson and the show Tucker Carlson Today was the anchor of Fox Nation digital.
I wonder if Fox Nation will retain the Tucker Carlson content on its streaming platform? If they don’t, they can expect a huge wave of cancellations – even bigger than what is certain to follow -- and demands for refunds. But if they keep it, they can expect continued mockery and accusations of hypocrisy. I wonder what Lachlan will think about that?
Fox Nation was struggling prior to Tucker Carlson’s long show broadcasts. The entire Fox Corp digital streaming service, Fox Nation, was anchored around the Tucker Carlson Today digital streaming service. Fox News has just torpedoed their anchor, shot their lead dog, destroyed the digital brand. That gives you some scale and scope to how the elements viewed the threat of influence that Tucker Carlson had become.
Tucker’s former colleagues Dan Bongino and Megyn Kelly already are prominent as streaming podcast hosts, along with Joe Rogan, whose audience far exceeds that of any Fox program. Carlson could go it alone or attempt to add some of these figures and others, like Glenn Greenwald and Tulsi Gabbard, to his platform.
The greatest insight on the issues weighing heavily on Tucker’s mind as he contemplates how to spend the rest of his professional life might come from the amazingly frank interview he did with podcaster Kyle Forgeard. Selected excerpts, my commentary, and the entire podcast are available here.
Image: Tucker Carlson. YouTube screen grab.
